Self-acting mule foe



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N. PETERS. PNDTU-UTHOGRAPHER WASHINGTON. C.

UNITED.. STATESv y BEN'. LAPHAM'; DECEASED,BY1DANIEL` P. LAPHAM, ADMINISTRATOR, OF' ADAMS; MASSACHUSETTS.

SELFfACTINGr MULE ,FOR SPINNING.

Specicatonfof. Letters Patent No. 1,797, dated September 25,\1840.`

To all whom t may concern.

Be it known that f I, BENJAMIN Larimer,

deceased,v lateof Adams, in the, countyof;

Berkshire and State. ofMassachusetts, ma-v chinist, did, during hislifetime invent and make and apply to usecertain-new and useful Improvements asniechanlcal additions to common spinning-machines, the object LAPHAM sought Letters Patent. of the.

United lStatesby. a memorial, afiirmation, specification, and drawings, bearing date. the 15th vday of September, 1838, and addressed tov theCommissioner of Patents of the UnitedStatesgand whereas the. said` BENJAMIN LArHAMv departed this life, shortly after executing t-he said memorial, affirmation, specification, and and whereas DANIEL P.' LAPHAM, of Adams aforesaid, manufacturer, was duly appointedadministrator tol-the estate and effects of the said BErIJaMINV LAPHAM by letters of administration of the probate court of the said county of Berkshire,dated the 2d day of-October, ISSS, under the hand and seal of the IrlonorablevvlnP. Walker, judge of;

the said court,.and whereas the said specification and drawings have been since returned from the Patent Office of the United States to the said DANIEL- P. LArHAMUas not being lin the full and 'due formrequired by law, and the same require'to berenewed Now, therefore, I, the. said DANIEL P. LAPHAM, do hereby declarey with amendments.

that the said improvements and themethods of constructing and using the same and theV advantages to bederived therefrom are fully.

and substantially setv forth and shown in the following description and in the drawings attached to and making part `of this amended specification, whereinn Figure l, Sheet l, is a geometrical projection of the horizontal plan, or position of the common mule spinning machine, with the said improvements attached, the spindrawings;

d-le carriage being shown near the backs-end,-

of the machine; Fig. 2 is a lengthwise geof. metrical sectional Velevation of .thei'nachine,V on the sidenext the. spindle carriage.; F ig. 3, isasimilar elevation. of the machine, seens. on theoppositefside.; Fig;` 4 is a similar 'crossv section of the back end of the machine; Fig.'

5, is a similarcross sectionA ofthe fore-.vend of the machine; Fig.y 6 lis a similarcross section of the spindle carriage and/frame, at the end whichy gears into-,nor is connected with, the. standing part of the machine; Fig;y 7 isa similar crosssection of thespiir dlecarriage, at the' opposite end; and the figurel in SheetQ, isa general perspective representationof the. whole machine suchv detached figures as are-.necessary for clea1= explanation, are successively referred to hereafter, and .the sameY letters and numbers, asmarks of reference, apply to thecorresponde.. ing partson all-the-several figures.

u is a shaft, carrying,- a fast and. looserv pulley Z) and b', seeFigs. land i4,/bywhich power is to bev communicated from anyprime mover to this portiongof the machine;- 0, is a. pulleycn.- one end ofthe shaft a, connected by the band c, to the drum,` d, which slides on the shafte, having a crank pin e on the outside, to give motion to theshaft. e, when needed, by sliding the drum (Zout, so that the crank pin e takesthe. crank arm on the inside of the drum, d, is a groo-ve,vto receive the fork at .the lower end ofthe clutch bar, g, whose fulcrum or.l joint is at 7L., and thebaris vfitted with. a frame, ,fhaving a slot, la, which stands at an acute-angle with the center/ line ofthe bar, g; within thefork. g, the side. of the drum,.cZ, forms onehalf of theclutch box, Z, the.. other half being.formedf'by the box, Z fitted on that .side ofthe loose pinion wheel, .l m, which` gears into the cog wheel, n, on the. shaft, 0,.this is fitted with the spiral groovedv rigger, whose use isto drawfthe spindle. carriageA`v up, by a band' 30 attached to the` bar 31, see Figs. l, and 6, the oppositemotion being given i'n theusual way.

The shaft, e, is fitted in a bearing, g, at; this end, formed so that the journal .of they shaft is allowed to play freely, when the. other end of the shaft e, has a vertical Ino-l tic-n given to it, by the action of the sliding diagonal frame, g, which bearstheweightr of the shaft at the .oppositeench the vertical line .of the .shaft e being maintainedbymo-v-.i

ing in a vertical slot in the fixed frame, g2, which has a second slot to receive the pin r, is shown in the attached Fig. 18, which serves as a4 connection between the frames g" and g2, for the purpose of engaging or disengaging the gearing wheels b2, and L, for the purposes, and in the manner hereafter detailed. Vithin the bearings g, g', the drum s, is fitted on the shaft c, to receive the band s', by which itis connected with the drum, t, on the shaft o, mounted on bearings fv, @2,1 and fitted with long journals, that admit of: the shaft sliding endways, between the bearings o, o2. At one `end of the shaft-fu, is the pinion tu, -and at the other end a groove, to" receive the fork fri/,Jon the outer end of the bar to2, which forms a long crank arm, from the top of the vertical shaft H mounted in common bearings,` andhaving a short crank H2, on the lower end, to which is connected the rod 2a, whose lengthfinishes at the fore end of the machine, by an attachment to the upper point of the vertical spring Next the drum, s, is a fixed friction plate, y, to match the loose friction plate y, having a drum y2, by which the frictionplatefe/, is connected through a band yg, to thepulley if, on" the shaft o; next the drum y2, is a groove, to receive the;V fork a2, at the end `of thecounter armyc, shown detached in thesniall Figs. 10 and 11, and which is ad justable in the length, by the screw at the other end of the arm (L3, which is tted into the lower end of the vertical arm at, whose longitudinal position in the machine is to be regulated and maintained by a set screw (L5, in the upper end where thearm a, has a mortise, to receive that end of the longitudinal shaft a, which is made the whole length of the machine, for the purposes shown hereafter.

The shaft e has a pinion b2 to gear into the tooth wheel b3, on the shaft b, having next the wheel b3, a grooved rigger b5, from which a band is to be led off to drive the spindles on the carriage A, in the usual manner. The shaft c2 is elongated at this end of the machine, to serve as a fulcrum for the lever c, one end of which is fitted with a pin 04, taking into the slot R, of the frame fi, the other end being curved upward, to meet the drop lever c5 which has a fulcruin c on the side of the machine, and is kept in place bya guide (Z2, on the side of the machine, and kept by the weight (Z3 from rising out of the guide by the motion` of the machine, as hereafter stated.` The pinion fw, on thc shaft o, gears into the tooth wheel (lf, on the shaft 14, when the` shaft lv is driven in the direct-ion of the arrow 1. On the outside of the wheel (Z4, is the spiral cam (Z5, Figs. 1 and 3, by which that end of the lever (Z6 is raised through a pin (Z7, the fulcruin of this lever istat 2, and its forward end is formed with an eye 3, through which is' reeved the line hfl, which returns toward the center of the inachine, descending over the shaft 18, passes through the eye of the weight 6, and returns upward to the end of the lever (Z6, near the pin (Z7, which secures this end of the line, the other end being passed through the eye 3, and made fast to the eye 7, in the lower end ofthe vert-ical link 8, whose upper end is jointed to the arm 9, on the cross shaft 10, whose inner end has attached to it, a crank arm 11, with an elbow 12, carrying a finger 13, whose direction is toward the main frame, in a parallel line with the shaft 10. The shaft 14,`which carries the tooth wheel'cl, carries also two T cams, 15 and 16, which when not in action are kept upright by the balance weight 27 the cam 15, in its rotation depresses theend of the crooked lever 17, mounted on the shaft 18, and opposite to this, on the shaft 18, isthe crutch fork 19, whose use is to stop the head wheel y20, which is driven and operates in the usual way, this 1s the saine as the head wheel in the common mule` spinning machine, and a band from it works the spindles in the carriage, in the usual way.

The T cam 16, operates in its rotations to depress the lever 21, which is mounted on a small shaft, going through the inside rail of the frame, and carrying on its other end the finger crank 22, shown detached in Fig, 12, which will be raised when the lever 21 is depressed. On the inside of the back end of the frame, the pin e2, carries the upright arm e3, to which one end of the: diagonal frame g1, is jointed at 23; the arm e3, at its upper end, is jointed, at e4, to the horizont-al latch bar c5, which is made crooked upward to carry it clear of other parts, `the outerend slides in an eye e0, and has a latch piece c7, fitted to receive the finger 22, and the arm c3 is kept in place by the crooked spring es.

The drop lever c5, having its fulcrum at c, has a drop leg f1, with a shoulder near the point, by which the lever is supported in place on the stud f2, this is kept to the stud, by a bent spring f3, and in front of this leg, is a frame cam ft. On the spindle carriage A, at this end, are two long pins f'", f, and when the carriage comes up, the lower pin ff', strikes away the leg f1, and lets the drop lever c5 fall, and on the return of the car riage, the upper pin f6, coming under the frame cam f4 lifts the lever, and the bent spring f3, springing the `lower shoulder of `the leg f1, onto the stud f2, retains the lever in the upper position, this part of the inotion is nearly the same as in the common mule spinning machine, but as stated liereafter, is applied to a `different purpose.

Two standards, g1, g2, each having an upper and lower horizontal eye, are fixed on the main frame, next the spindle carriage, so as to receive at their lower parts, a pair of CTU CJi

triangular formed cams g3, g4, the upper part of the `back :cam yg3 being convex, the similar part of the fore cam g4 being concave, these two are connected by the bar g5, at .the required distance. In front of these two, and going through the eyes .on the standards g1, g2, are two slides g, gl, having in their middle each a boss, to receive a pin, which bears .on the cams g3, g4, and by which the cams, in their horizontal motion, raise and lower the slides, the tops of which receive each a knob of metal by a mortise through it, and steadied on the slides by setI screws 7L-, 7b3, which knobs are the heads of pins g8, gg, going lthrough the guide bar h1, which is thus raised or maintained to any required height, .by the operation of Ythe cams g3, g4, through the pins in the shoes g, 07, the height on the slide being adjusted, by the set screws 71"), h3. At the fore part of the frame, near the fore cam gt, within the frame a metal arm is fixed, to form a nut 7b4,

'for the leading screw 71,, the shaft of which has, at the other end outside the bearing, a ratchet wheel, 7L6 fixed on it, and outside that, a two armedcrank, 71?, the eye of which is movable on the shaft 72,5, the upper arm on the crank 72,7 is fitted with a pawl 7L8, working into the ratchet wheel 7L, the lower arm has the rod 7L, attached by a joint, and the rod below has a screw thread cut on it, fitted with. a nut 1, by which the distance from the crank to the llever 2 is regulated. rThis lever is mounted on the pin the fore arm being crooked, to receive the stud 02 on the spindle carriage, which, as it comes up, depressing that arm of the lever 2, raises the other arm, and with it the rod 7&9, and crank 7N, sending the ratchet wheel on by the .pawl LS, this motion progresses the cams g3, g4, in the direction of the arrow 3, on the bar g5, and raises the guide bar h1.

The longitudinal shaft 02, has a balance weight 5, which, in operation, depresses the lever c3, so as to bring the pin c* in action, in the slot 7n, and thus connects the clutches 7) and b1. The standard 6, on the barcZ, has an arm 7, which catches in the latch 8, mounted on the standard 9, which is supported in two bracket bearings, and a back spring, 7:1, keeps the latch 8 up to the arm 7, the latch frame r2 is fitted on the standard 9, and sta-nds in contact with the elbows 71:3, on the curb piece, 7a4, this is mounted on an arm Q-l, on the 4guide bar 7L1. The fore end of the bar, c2, outside the bearing, has a crank arm 7c5; at the outer part of this the rod 756 is jointed on, having the lower end screwed to receive a nut 7c?, which regulates the length between the crank arm 765, and the lower side of the eye cs, on the fore end of the spindle carriage latch 709, which takes into a pin 72, on the end of the spindle carriage.

The longitudinal shaft c already referred sto has a stud l", which meets acorresponding spindles fixed and driven in the usual way;

upon the carriage A, the stands or brackets Z7, ZS, tocarry the fallers, are secured on the ends, and the top faller is formed by the shaft Z9, the fingers m1, m2, and the guide wire m3, and the balance weight 26, in the usual manner, but, on the inner finger m1, the vertical rod mt is jointed, and slides up and down, in an eye m5, made in the right angled end of the vertical standard m, and the rod m4 goes through the mortise in a boss piece m7, which has a set screw m8, to adjust it one one side, and on the other side, a pin carrying a guide roller m9; the back faller, instead o-f being fixed on the back of the spindle carriage, as in the old mode, is herein mounted on the tops of the stands or brackets Z7, Z8, above, and rather before the top faller, and is formed by the shaft nl, balance weight n2, and fingers a?, n4, formed of an increased length, and curved downward, so as to carry the guide wire a5 behind and below the guide wire Yon the top faller. At the inner end the shaft nl, has a small crank arm n, to which is jointed the vertical slide rod a7, whose lower end slides in a guide eye, in the outer end 4of the bracket arm as. Upon the rod a7, is an arm ng, with a mo-rtise to slide it, and a set screw 01, to adjust and secure it in place.

rlhe operation of this machine thus fitted, and the effects produced, are as follows: On the spindle carriage A arriving at .the outward point, the arm 02, at the lower and outer corner of the carriage, strikes the curved part of the lever 2, depressing that, and raising the other end, and rod 7L9, and crank arm 71.7, sends the pawl LS, forward, carrying the ratchet wheel 7&6 partl of a turn,

and `with it the screw shaft 71,5, thus drawing f the cams g3, g4, a little out-ward, and raising the guide bar 71,1. The pin Z2, at the same time catches over the shoulder of the latch 7x0, and the spindle carriage is now held fast. The arm 03, on the carriage, has also thick back the spring 25, which carries with it the bar 24, this draws the crank 7i?, forward, and causes the arm co2, to slide the shaft 'v in the direction of the arrow l, and thus bring the pinion fw into gear with the tooth wheel (74, which has been standing still with the cam 75, and kept in that position by the balance weight 27, but on motion being thus given, the T cam l5 depresses the lever 17, and stops the head wheel 20, the cam (75, simultaneously raising the lever CZ, by the pin (Z7, depresses the other end, and by the connection through the line 4, draws do-wn the link 8; this gives the shaft 10 a partial turn, that carries the arm 11 and thel elbow l2 downward; at the same time the T cam 16 `strikes the lever 2l, and forcing that down, disengages the fingers 22, from the latch catch c7, on the bar e5, and allows the spring es, to force the bar c3 forward, and thus put the pinion 712 into gear with the wheel b3, by depressing that end of the shaft @through the action of the diagonal sliding frame g1, g2, this mot-ion turns the spindles backward, by reversing the motion of the rigger Zr", this causes a portion of the length of each thread to unwind from the spindles, and the top faller, at the same time, being depressed by the action of the cam d5 through the action of the lever (7 and crank arm 1l, on to the roller m, the guide wire m3, takes up the slack of the threads, until the roller m9 strikes the curb frame 7a4, and continuing to be forced down, by the arm l1, theelbow .e3 of the curb frame, forces the latch frame 7a2, olf and disengages the latch 8, so that the arm 7 and standard i, with the shaft c2, have all a small motion in the direction of the arrow 2, at the same time lifting the outer point of the crank arm 765, which, through th-e rod 706 lifts the eye 708, of the latch 71:9, and disengages the latch frointhe pin Z2, leaving the spindle carriage free to be drawn up, at same time, the arm 03 quits the spring 25, which forces back the bar` 24, and reversing the previous motion of the crank to2, slides the shaft o, in the opposite direction of the` arrow l, and puts the pinion w out of gear with the tooth wheel (74, the weight 5 now forces the pin c4 on the lever c3, downward in the slot 7c, and disengages the crank arm f, from the crank pin c1, which stops the reverse motion of the spindles, and bringing the clutches Z, and'Z1 together, sets the pinion m, in work on the tooth wheel n, and brings up the spindle carriage by the band 30 from the grooved rigger 7), attached to the bar 31.

The motion described, as given to the shaft c2 in the direction of the arrow 2, moves the stud Z" with it, and allows of a motion in the stud 7) on the shaft a, which gives the power of a limited motion, in the opposite direction, to the shaft a, which will be immediately caused by the weight of the guide bar Z, and the effect is to bring` the friction plates g/and 7/1, into contact, by the operation of the vertical arm CLJ', horizcntal arm a, and fork c2, this contact occul-ring at the same instant that the spindle carriage is disengaged from the holding' latch 7:, causes the driving power to operate through the belt jz/, and drum 0/2, to work the shaft c, and the parts attached, with a power which is changeable by the increase or decrease of the contact in the friction plates, which is given as follows: The latch 2S, attached to the carriage A,l

and not before described, `is to hold the back faller down, when thecarriage is run-` ning` out, and when the top faller is depressed. as before described, the Voperation of the finger m2 against the spring latch 28, forces itoutward and leaves the back faller `free for the guide wire 795, to rise up under the threads, and take up the additional slack which may arise in the operations of the machine. When the threads are being wound on the cops, at a proper tension, the guide wire n? may remain nearly steady at about half an inch above the tops of the spindles and the arm n, on the slide bar mi, will then run evenly below, but in contact with the guide bar Z6, but if the threads become too slack the guide wire a5, will rise by the balance weight n? and the arm` nf be depressed, the effect of ,i this will be that the guide bar Z will go down by its on the cops with an equal degree of ten` sion. When the roller m is depressed on to the curb 7a4, by the crank arm l1, as previously described, it remains so depressed until itl has passed under the whole length of the guide bar 71.1, and the guide bar being' elevated at the back end the threads are wound on the cop 1n turns each turn co1n` inencing above the one wound on next before it and on the roller m9, passingclear of the back end of the bar 71,1, the balance weight 2G raises the roller above the bar and the guide wire m3, on the top faller rises above the tops of the spindles. The back faller may be returned to bring the guide wire or, below the guide wire m, by a cam on the machine or the floor or by any usual mechanical means that will raise the lower end of the sliding bar nl, and throw the fingers '113, at, and guide wire a5, downward. When the carriage comes up at the back nio-tion the pin strikes the leg knockingl it off the stud f2, lets down the drop lever c", which in its descent strikes the curved arm of the cross lever c, and elevating the other end with the pin c* in the slot 7: forces the lever and fork g outf'ard so as to separate the clutches Z and Z1L and bring the crank pin c1 and crank arin j, into gear and at the same time sets the arm if", into the catch of the latch is, and the stud Z, on the shaft c2, striking the stud 7", on the shaft a, lifts the guide bar f1 and ZG and draws the friction plates g/ and y1 apart; the drop lever 05 also strikes the elbow of a small crooked lever 29 not before described which lies under the drop lever and depressing that elbow forces theY other part inthe opposite direction against the top of the bar e3, which moving with the force applied draws the bar e5 with it and brings t-he catch e7 into gear with the ngers 22V and forcing the frame g1 in the same direction raises and separates the pinion b2 from its gearing into the wheel b3, the drop lever 05 will be lifted into place by the pin f, and cam frame fL as already described. Y

The operation of the screw shaft p5, being such as to draw the cams g3 and g4 outward a small distance, and thereby raise the guidebar h1, in a like proportion, at each alternate motion of the spindle carriage, at the same time raising the guide wire m3, in the same ratio, causes the threads to wind on the cops, in successive commencements, each a small distance above, and outside the precedent commencement, while the curves in the edges of the cams, by their shape, regnlate the shape of the cops, forming the lower part, as a rather abrupt inverted cone, the upper part being a more tapered cone; this, combined with the uniform tension of the threads maintained during the winding, produces cops, which will unwind without tangling, loss, or waste.

The detached Figs. 8 and 9, show a mode of varying the parts, and positions, by which, if more convenient for particular purposes, the back faller may be made to operate from the back of the spindle carriage A, as follows: l is a shaft, the length of the spindle carriage, on which the cross lever 2 is fastened, at the fore end of this, the vertical arm 3, is jointed on, working vertically, or nearly so, between the guide pin 4e, and grooved friction roller 5, the top of the arm serving as a finger for the guide wire, and being made straight, or curved, as the work may require. At the back end of the lever 2, the vertical slide rod 6 is jointed on, `and steadied by the bracket eye 7, having on oneside the arm 8, adjustable by the screw 9, and intended to work under the guide bar Z6, in the same manner, and with the same effects, as the arm as already described; and corresponding parts to the lever 2, and vertical arm 3, at the other end of the shaft 1, will produce like effects at the outer end of the spindle carriage, on that end of the guide wire, and a balance weight lO, may be placed in any convenient part of the shaft l.

W'hat I claim as my improvements arel. The arrangement of means, as herein substantially set forth, by which the back faller and guide wire LI", is made to operate on the lower guide bar Z, and through that and the shaft o, on the friction plates g/ and y1, to regulate .the tension of the threads when winding.

2. I further claim the arrangement of `means described, by which the shafto, the

pinion w, the cam (l5, lever CZ, crank 1l, and finger l2, depressing the roller in 9, and sliding bar mt, in combination with the Inotion of the cams g3, g4, and upper guide bar h1, operates on the top faller and guide wir-e m3, to produce a cop, built in successive commencements, in such a way that the cop will unwind, without loss by tangling, or waste.

8. Finally, I claim the general combination of new parts claimed above as invented and applied by me, to and with the parts of common spinning machines which are retained, as above described and set forth, for the purposes of maintaining an equal tension of the threads when winding, and building cops which will unwind without loss by tangling, or waste, as the same are herein substantially described and set forth, includingl any mechanical variations in the position of the parts, which shall be substantially the same in the means employed, and the effects produced.

In witness whereof, I, the said DaNinL P. LAPHAM, have hereunto set my hand, as the administrator of the said BENJAMIN LAPHAM, deceased, at Adams aforesaid, in the presence of the witnesses signing in the margin hereof, on the fourth day of May, in the yeark one thousand eight hundred and forty. Y

DANL. P. LAPHAM. g [1.. s]

Titnesses N. WV'. HARMON, H. J. BLISS. 

